Published: Wednesday, September 3, 2014 at 5:15 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, September 3, 2014 at 12:18 p.m.

Facts

THEATER REVIEW

What: “Into the Woods,” with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. Presented by Opera House Theatre Co.When: 8 p.m. Sept. 5-6 and 3 p.m. Sept. 7Where: Thalian Hall, 310 Chestnut St., downtown WilmingtonTickets: $29Details: 910-632-2285 or www.ThalianHall.org.

That's the big question asked by Stephen Sondheim's musical “Into the Woods,” which provides several answers while using classic fairy tales to comment on the state of contemporary lives and relationships.

Featuring a slew of excellent performances as well as impressive stagecraft under the direction of Jason Aycock, Opera House Theatre Co. does an entertaining job with its production of “Into the Woods,” which ends its run at Thalian Hall on Sunday.

Sondheim's alternately playful, catchy and moving songs are anchored by James Lapine's book, which blends characters from famous children's stories (Little Red Riding Hood, Cinderella and Rapunzel, among others) into an original tale about the quest of a baker and his wife to reverse the curse of a witch that's keeping them childless. (If you've seen the “Shrek” movies, they owe a fair amount to “Into the Woods.”)

After these stories give us the endings we know and expect, the second act provides an epilogue to happily ever after that feels a lot like messy real life.

As the baker, Jeff Phillips takes his character on an arc from nervous calm to beleaguered anxiety, and his strong voice and sense of humor overshadow the overselling of his character's more emotional scenes. It's hard to shake the feeling that he's been miscast, as Phillips' outsize personality doesn't quite fit the baker's milquetoasty manner.

As the baker's wife, Heather Setzler is great, as always, at cracking wise, but here she does it in a way that's more subtle and in service of her under-the-radar-but-always-there character. It all builds to her big act two song, “Moments in the Woods,” which is a funny, thoughtful highlight.

This baker and his wife are sent into the woods by a witch with ulterior motives (she's pretty much the worst next-door neighbor of all time), who demands that they collect items she needs in exchange for reversing a curse she's placed on the baker and his line: a cow as white as milk (which brings them into contact with Jack, of beanstalk fame), hair as yellow as corn (Rapunzel), a cape as red as blood (Little Red Riding Hood) and a slipper as pure as gold (Cinderella).

Joy Ducree Gregory gives a powerful performance as the witch. She wears a mask for the first part of the show but makes it work for her, using it and a stooped but explosive physicality to convey the character of a twisted, vengeful woman with easily-hurt feelings beneath her hostile surface. Her voice is like a thunderbolt, able to both deliver rapid-fire grievances (“Act One Opening”) and emotionally resonant ballads that delve into the complicated relationship between mother and child (“Stay with Me”).

The large cast provides plenty of moments for performers to shine. Annie Marsh is fabulously bratty as the sassy Little Red, but the joke about her constant eating is run into the ground. As the wolf who stalks Little Red, Khawon Porter has a deliciously creepy energy but is hamstrung by a great-looking wolf mask that covers his mouth and muffles his singing.

Kendra Goehring-Garrett is a fine Cinderella, and manages to inject the role with subversive humor while singing very sweetly in “No One Is Alone.” Paul Teal is a lot of fun as the clueless Jack, and Kenneth Rosander is better than he has any right to be as the puppeteer to Jack’s cow, Milky White. Dick Bunting gives the Mysterious Man who stalks the baker the corniness of a clueless dad while imbuing lines like “We die, but we don’t” with the unbearable lightness of meaning. Erik Maasch and Christopher Rickert as a pair of Prince Charmings ham it up effectively with their song “Agony.”

There's nothing more important in “Into the Woods” than the music, and Lorene Walsh's band delivers the notoriously difficult tunes without a hitch. Terry Collins' rough-hewn wooden set is spooky-cool, and Dallas LaFon has fun with lush lines of green light to a create a forest-like effect. John Devaux’s sound design is used to great effect to evoke a giant who terrorizes our characters, and Juli Harvey and Debbie Scheu’s costumes help sell the whole fairy tale theme.

Aycock has grown as a director since last fall’s serviceable but tepid version of “Little Shop of Horrors.” Here, he puts his own stamp on the action with choices like masks for the witch and the wolf, and he emphasizes the play’s humor while respecting its more somber moments. Also, the idea to cast a young boy, Quinn Gonzalez, as the narrator, a role that’s usually played by an older man, is one that dovetails with the script’s themes (these are stories read by and to children, after all) and it even provides an interesting twist on the play’s ending. Unfortunately, Gonzalez, while having a fine singing voice, can be very difficult to understand and much of the exposition his character delivers gets lost.

A few small problems slow down Opera House’s “Into the Woods,” but they can’t stop this effective, passionately presented show. When the movie version his theaters on Christmas, you’ll want to have seen the musical first.